Twins of the Sky
by Sunbun
Summary: AU. The Sky is rather limited. It will only allow one in its presence. The other will be forever banished from its haven. Rated T for possibly mild language.


Should I really post this...? Eh, why not...

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><p>It wasn't anywhere special, just a place where the three of them would hand out after school, occasionally bringing something to play. A deck of cards from home, some action figures they bought for cheap, anything. If not, they would just sit somewhere on a park bench and talk to their hearts content. It was especially pretty in the spring when the sakura blossoms would bloom and the ground would be coated in a soft blanket of light pink petals.<p>

A small boy hurried into the area, dragging someone else along. He was careful not to trample on the scenery. "Nii-san, hurry up! You're being too slow!"

The older boy being dragged looked almost the same as his assailant, their brown hair and short height almost exactly the same. The only visible difference was that his brother had big, innocent caramel eyes (and was constantly being told that he resembled a puppy, in which he would respond with a pout and an annoyed, "No, I don't!") while he had more amber-hued orbs. "Why are you in such a rush?" he groaned. "It's not like this place is gonna go poof or something."

The more innocent brother slowed to a stop, keeping his eyes away from his twin as he pulled his and away. "Today was one of those 'bad days,'" he mumbled out slowly. "Three people got to trip me today, and the teachers didn't even notice. One of them took some of my lunch money." His hands gripped tightly into fists. "There was still enough left to buy some small snacks, though. And I know everyone has bad days, but still." He fluttered his eyes shut, sighing lightly. "I dunno...I guess I came here today to feel better, or something. Might as well let something good happen, right?"

"I guess." The other boy shrugged. "So, anything else?"

"...Does getting F's on every test handed back and almost getting beaten up in gym class count?"

The amber-eyed boy snorted and shook his head. "Well, wasn't today a bundling ball of joy."

"Tsunayoshi-nii," his brother glanced back and scolded in a semi-serious semi-weak tone. "Kaa-san told you that you should stop using sarcasm so much. It makes you look like a jerk."

"Yeah, yeah…" He rolled his eyes. "Like I care."

"Nii-san!"

"_What?_" His amber eyes narrowed into thin slits. "You can't honestly expect me to get rid of a habit immediately if that's what I've been doing for the past...what, six, seven years of my life?"

The younger pouted and stomped his foot on the ground, not noticing the stray pink petal he had unknowingly flattened. "At least try to make an effort! You'll seem nicer that way, and you'd have more friends other than me and-"

"Guys!" A taller, black-haired boy ran towards them, also careful not to trample on too many flowers. "I'm here!" he panted out, leaning on his wooden baseball bat.

With shining eyes, the two brothers rushed to their incoming friend. Well, the older brother rushed. The younger almost glomped his new friend if it weren't for his caution of the scenery that he remembered. "Yama-kun!"

"Yo!" 'Yama-kun' raised his head and grinned, forming a 'victory!' sign with his hand. "I'm not too late, am I?"

"Nope!" the younger brother exclaimed happily, all previous annoyance forgotten. "You're just in time! C'mon, let's go sit by the fountain!" He bounded away happily, not stopping at all to look back at his two friends.

The older brother sighed and shook his head. "He has so much energy…" _Not to mention a short attention span..._

Laughing at his friend's exasperation, the black-haired boy swung his baseball bat onto his shoulder. "Well, there's nothing wrong with that, right? We should follow his example!" He followed the path into the garden.

Left alone, the boy sighed again. "I'm surrounded by idiots…" he muttered out loud. Yet, his voice held a happy tone, as if more amused than annoyed. He followed his two friends, walking down the path.

_**Do you remember of the times we spent there?**_

In a small cramped hallway, a young boy sat in the corner, crouched with his head bowed down, trembling and panting rapidly. His hands were balled into fists as he desparately tried to keep his tears from flowing uncontrolably. He didn't bother to move as three other boys began striding over to him and towered over him. The tallest one, tossing up a small rubber ball with a face, smirked down at him. "Well, well, well…what do we have here?"

The young boy whimpered softly. "Please…"

"What?" The boy left of the tallest one scoffed and kicked his victim, making the young boy fall out of his position. He let out a small cry. "I didn't quite hear you. Mind repeating that?"

Slipping a hand through his spikey brown hair, the young boy stood up and kept his back to the other three. He mumbled something inaudible.

"Yo!" The boy to the right, also the shortest, grabbed his collar and spun him around. The eyes that had been glued to the ground were now wide and wet, making the caramel color seem to be glimmering softly. "Don't ignore us, brat!"

The victim whimpered softly again, still staying silent.

"Well then…" The boy holding his collar raised his fist back, and the two others smirked and readied their fists. "It seems like you want a good beating, huh? We'll give you what you want, then!"

The young boy squeezed his eyes shut, preparing his body for the beating he was about to receive…

…That never came. The hold on his collar loosened, and he could hear the sound of grunts and winces, of tearing cloth. There was the thud of bodies hitting the floor, the footsteps of people escaping. He slowly opened his eyes.

"Hey," his savior panted out, rushing towards him, "you okay?"

The now-free-victim let out a small gasp, reaching out to hug the almost identical boy. "Nii-san…" he whispered, clinging to his brother's uniform.

"It's okay, everything's okay now…" The older brother lifted his hand to ruffle his twin's soft hair, the other hand gently stroking his back in comfort. "You can let it out…"

He couldn't cry. He wouldn't cry. Crying was for babies and small children. He was a big boy now. He wouldn't cry. Not in front of his Nii-san. Not in front of anybody. He wouldn't cry.

The older brother, reading his thoughts, ruffled his hair harder. "Everyone cries once in a while, even adults. It's not bad."

"But…" the younger one squeezed his eyes shut to prevent his tears from escaping. "You protect me every day…I feel so weak…"

"Picture it this way then. You're the damsel in distress, and I'm your knight in shining armor."

"Hey!" the younger brother exclaimed indignantly, pulling away from his soft embrace. "I'm not a girl, or a princess, or some fairytale damsel! I'm a boy! A big boy!"

The elder rolled his eyes, chuckling quietly to himself. "Yes, of course. You're definitely a 'big boy.' That's why I have to save you every single time someone wants to steal your lunch money."

"Nii-san!"

He let out an amused laugh and took his brother's hand, dragging him back to their class. The younger brother pouted, looking away outside through the windows. He willed himself not to look at his twin, to make him understand every little bit of his annoyance.

It was futile. The younger brother felt his stubbornness slowly wash away from him, a calm relaxed state replacing his earlier one. He could never hold a grudge. Without meaning to, he gently squeezed their interlocked hands, as if that simple gesture would keep them together forever.

The elder noticed, smirked, and squeezed back.

_**You've probably forgotten it all...not that I'm surprised. **_

There was a small area behind the school where it was perfect to relax. Multitudes of colorful birds chirped out their songs and the air would be sweetened by the perfume of the flowers and made even prettier still by the colors of their petals. A small patch of moss grew as a soft cushion to sit on with friends, or it was okay to sit on the boulders that had a sort of hollowed shape at the top. An old oak tree grew right next to the small scene. It could provide shade from the sun and rain, or just be a fun thing to climb alone or with friends.

A young boy sat on one of the large hollowed rocks, holding a book containing about one hundred or so pages. His amber eyes scanned over each individual word, flipping every few minutes to the next one and repeating the process. Nothing would break his concentration.

Another boy in the small scenery sat on one of the patches of soft moss, picking flowers and trying (key word _trying_) to make the project he had learned from a book in art class that day. The steady rhythm of his brother's flipping pattern eased his mind somewhat, as well as the soft melody from the birds overhead, though it did nothing to help him succeed in his plight.

After a few more minutes, the younger brother groaned and threw his project to the ground. He crossed his arms and glared at the loosely connected stems. "How the heck does this work…?"

The older brother still kept to his pattern of flipping the pages, appearing to be ignoring his twin. Though, he quickly replied, "What are you trying to do?"

"I'm trying to tie the flowers together, but they keep getting undone." Caramel eyes narrowing in irritation, he grabbed hold of the flowers once again. "Are the stems too short or something?"

_Flip_. "You're just clumsy with your hands."

The younger pouted with annoyance. "Am not," he murmured out loud, but he knew that it was the truth. His brother was always right, almost to the point when it got somewhat annoying, and was outspoken and blunt about it too. It was just his personality to do so. Besides, it could help in some situations.

With a soft _thwap_, the elder shut his book and walked over to the patch of moss where his twin was sitting. He sat down next to him. "Want me to help?"

The younger shook his head, glaring down at the flowers in his hand. "No, it's okay. I want to try and finish it by myself." _I want to prove myself to you for once._

He sighed. "Suit yourself," the older twin shrugged and opened his book again, continuing the pattern that had been interrupted for a few seconds. The small scene was once again similar to how it first began.

A few more minutes passed. The younger brother continued to fumble with the flowers and their stems, occasionally bumping into his brother by accident. He would then apologize, and it was back to finishing his project. Loop, tie, connect, loop, tie, connect, loop, tie, connect, it was that constant pattern of actions that ran through his mind and hands. Through his concentration and determination to finish, he did not notice the set of amber eyes gazing at him, tracking every move his fingers made as he attempted to tie the stems together.

After twenty minutes had passed and when the younger brother seemed halfway finished, the elder returned to reading his book under the chirping birds and surrounded by the sweet fragrance of flowers. They sat in silence, like that, for another fifteen minutes.

With a sudden jump, the younger brother raised his arms into the air, something clasped in his hands. "I did it!" he shouted exuberantly. "It's finally finished!"

"Well," the voice of the elder brother rang dryly below his twin, "mind telling me the reason why you had to interrupt my reading and-" A small flower crown plopped onto his spikey brown hair.

"There!" the younger brother laughed in joy. "It's a gift for you, to celebrate getting into the top five in our school!" His excitement seemed to simmer down and left behind a flustered shell. "Erm…C-congratulations!"

With wide amber eyes, he studied his brother; the flushed cheeks, the quick fleeting gaze, the hands that trembled without notice. He reached up to touch the flowers that adorned his head, feeling the petals of multitudes of flowers. And then, abandoning his calm demeanor, he reached out and wrapped his arms around his brother, whispering one word into his ear that made the other blush and smile happily.

"Arigatou."

_**So...should I rewrite our times together?**_

There was a dark room, lit up only by the strange devices inside and the small amount of sunlight that could be let through. There were no windows, no stray openings, only one door that was guarded by _things_ wrapped in pure white bandages. They took on the forms of humans, yet anyone who even caught a glimpse of them would call them anything but.

A flurry of snow whipped around outside, coating the mountainous area around it with a blanket of white powder. If it had been modeled and scaled down, the place would look similar to an ice cream sundae; looking so sweet and appetizing, the ingredients melting in your mouth, only for the rocks to crack your teeth to bits and the ice to freeze you from the inside.

As they say, 'don't judge a book by its cover.'

Traveling within the wind, a stray leaf flew inside the building. It flew onward until the wind stopped being able to reach its location, and then drifted down in front of a water-filled glass container. Though dark, there was the clear outline of a body inside the capsule. He looked like he was in a deep slumber, his only visible clothing being a pair of bright orange-and-black shorts as he floated in the water. A translucent mask covered the bottom half of his face, a bundle of cords surrounding his nearly naked body.

The image began to distort, fading in and out of clarity. A scream could be heard, though from who or where, it was unknown. There was the clinking of chains, the scuffle of something being dragged along the floor without care, the last final cry of a chained beast. And then, a gunshot.

There was the image of fire; no heat, no mass, only the look of flickering flames, as if it were only an illusion. It enveloped the image in a burst of orange light, allowing nothing to escape it. A crackling sound filled the air, similar to burning wood in a fireplace on a cold winter day. Then, as if to swallow it, rows of spiked ice began to take over the orange flames. Another scream filled the air.

And then...silence.

The original image of the dark room was once again clear. With little sound, the boy in the capsule resisted against the numerous thick chains that bound him. His eyes fluttered silently for a second, then cracked open slightly. A small orange flame sparked on his forehead, disappearing as quickly as it appeared.

Without warning, the glass shattered.

Water poured out onto the tiled floor, washing away the small leaf that had somehow traveled inside. The body of the teenage boy cracked the chains that restricted him and untangled the thick ropes surrounding him. His right foot took one step onto the floor, getting used to the feel of hard ground under his feet again. He stumbled, and then regained his balance almost immediately. His spikey brown hair clung to his forehead and drooped down, a small wilted daisy in the darkness of the room.

Lifting his head up into the air, he smirked with contempt. His amber eyes flashed dangerously in the gloom.

"_**We meet again, my dear brother." **_

Gasping and panting, the fifteen year old boy named Sawada Tsuna jerked up in his bead. The covers were soaked with what he assumed to be sweat, and they seemed to be so hot and sticky that he immediately flung them off and shivered at the now invading chill of the night. He wrapped his arms around himself, desperate to keep in some of his escaping body heat. And yet, despite his actions, he could not stop the large tremors that shook his body from within.

Another body pressed against his. It felt so warm, so safe, that he immediately threw away what little pride he still had in his weak grasp and snuggled into the other person's warm embrace. A pair of warm, slender arms wrapped around his trembling frame. "Tsu-kun," he heard his mother speak worriedly above him, "are you okay?"

His throat was too dry, too constricted to make any sound other than a small weak croak. So he just nodded. He could feel his mother's questioning gaze on him, but he didn't want to look up and have to look directly at her. He didn't want to break in front of the only person who cared.

A stiff silence followed afterwards. The curtains blew into the room, revealing the night sky for only a second before obscuring it again. He shivered at the invading chill. Noticing, his mother gathered his blankets and draped it over their bodies. She whispered, "are you sure?"

A nod. No verbal response.

"You were screaming," his mother pressed on. "And I heard loud thumping noises. Are you really sure?"

He didn't answer, deciding to wrap his arms around his mother in hopes that her warmth would heat up his body. Seeming to understand his reluctance, his mother, Nana Sawada, just continued to hold her son in his bed, rocking him gently back and forth, back and forth, back and forth... As time slowly went on, the full moon outside illuminated the room in its soft pale glow, soothing the two people inside. Nana began to sing a lullaby to try and lull him back into sleep. Tsuna buried his head more into his mother's embrace.

He didn't want to sleep. He didn't want to leave his mother's warmth. He didn't want to go back and face the night alone.

He was afraid of what more his dreams would show him.

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><p>Well...lookie here. I just got a new story when my first one hasn't been updated for five months! 8D YAY!<p>

Well...I don't have much to say. Other than, I'm sorry for being such a lame author who can't get her priorities straight.

D":

Also, this story's probably not going to be updated any faster. Wonderful, right?


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